books of 2011

[dakegra]

As with previous years, I'm going to start tracking what I've been reading during the year. Also keep track of what's next on the To Read List etc.

Caveat: Links go via my Amazon Associates account, which has earned me the grand total of 85p since I set it up several years ago. Links go to paperback versions where possible. Feel free to click & buy, or go direct to Amazon if you don't agree with this sort of thing. :-)

Without further ado...

Books of 2011:

This is Not a Game, by Walter Jon Williams

Once upon a time, there were four of them. And though each was good at a number of things, all of them were very good at games ...But when one of them is gunned down in a parking lot, the survivors become players in a very different kind of game - one that is played for the highest stake of all. Now they must draw on all their resources - not least millions of online gamers - to track down the killer. Imagine a game with no boundaries. Waiting in a parking lot, sitting at your computer, walking down the street - you could be called at any moment, and you'd better be ready. This is not a game. This is a novel that will blow your mind.

OK, so my mind wasn't quite blown. It's an entertaining romp through the world of the ARG. Likeable characters, interesting situations, but there are points where the plot goes 'whu?' and you wonder why stuff is taking so long. Bit like in Harry Potter and the Endless Camping, where H, R & H spend *weeks* bumming around in tents rather than, you know, doing something useful. That said, I quite enjoyed it, polished it off in a couple of days.
If you want a really good book (or books) on games, look no further than Larry Niven & Stephen Barnes superb Barsoom Series -
Dream Park, The Barsoom Project, and The California Voodoo Game. All of which are brilliant.


Next up (normally I'll go for a post each):

Leviathan
, by Scott Westerfield

Two opposing forces are on the brink of war. The Clankers - who put their faith in machinery - and the Darwinists - who have begun evolving living creatures into tools. Prince Aleksandar, the would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, comes from a family of Clankers, and travels the country in a walker, a heavily-fortified tank on legs. Meanwhile Deryn Sharp, a girl disguised as a boy, works for the British Empire, crewing the ultimate flying machine: an airship made of living animals. Now, as Alek flees from his own people, and Deryn crash-lands in enemy territory, their lives are about to collide...

Oh, I loved this one. Utterly absorbing, splendid alternate-history worldbuilding, enjoyable and engaging characters and a plot which fairly zings along. Only downside was that I didn't realise it was the first in a series, so left on somewhat of a cliffhanger! Aimed at the YA market, but none the worse for it. Highly recommended.

currently reading

• Surface Detail, by Iain M. Banks


• Kraken, by China Mieville

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

ホテルの敷地内、プールサイドにつながるhallwayに
can we bring a peacock?

[(Anonymous)]

pulumeria point terraceならpeacock　OKかも。

[(Anonymous)]

以外なことろに孔雀がいるというのが素敵。
ホテルのコーディネーターにお願いしてみる。

[kniblet.livejournal.com]

Leviathon is too awesome for words. Behemoth, out in hardback now, is just as good. Goliath comes out in October, which is too bloody far away.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

Leviathan was one of those where you find yourself looking up from the book an hour later wondering where the time went, and wouldn't be a bit surprised to see an engineered blimp float past outside.

I want a peacock too.

[dave-t-lurker.livejournal.com]

I loved Surface Detail. Read it by the pool in Turkey in the sun drinking free beer!